Maroons land first blow on NSW at Suncorp Stadium

Not literally of course but let's be honest, in the eyes of Queenslanders, NSW have always been 'the other state'. It's been the case since 1980.

This series though, was the first time they actually put it into words... or didn't. Regardless, their up one-zip in the series after overcoming an 8-0 halftime deficit to storm home and claim Origin I.

They'll now look to Origin II in Perth. The Blues, or their fans at least, will look for someone to blame. You can bet Nathan Cleary will be in the firing line.

The most talked-about man on the lead-up wasn't awful, but struggled to link with halves partner Cody Walker who was also quiet on debut with the Maroons getting plenty of joy running his way with the footy.

On a night where Damien Cook and James Tedesco were arguably the Blues best, there'll be pressure on selectors to look at the rest of the spine.

In contrast, their Maroons counterparts were outstanding, with Kayln Ponga laying on two second-half tries with cut-out balls while Cam Munster and Daly Cherry Evans created more opportunities than their side could convert.

Dragons halfback and 'makeshift' No. 9 Ben Hunt also produced a 40-20 and made 53 tackles as he went the 80 minutes in the middle.

"I thought he was fantastic," Cherry Evans told Channel 9 post-match.

"To play 80 minutes in the middle at hooker is a massive achievement in itself. He held his own, he ran the ball well, he came up with that 40-20.

"Benny's an important part of this side and we spoke about through the week, the more times he can get out from dummy-half and test the NSW line the better we'll be.

"I thought he did that really well tonight."

The Blues gave themselves a sniff late when Jake Trbojevic scored late but it was close as they got, leaving Brad Fittler with all the big questions to answer ahead of game two.

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Queensland were twice denied by the bunker in the first half, and couldn't make the Blues pay after a pinpoint 40-20 from Hunt five minutes before the break.

They made three other line breaks in the opening stanza but couldn't produce any points. The Blues, in contrast made the most of their sparse opportunities with Cleary grabbing first points via a 12^th minute penalty goal.

Oates looked to have scored the first four-pointer in the five minutes after a break from Chambers on the other side of the park, but replays showed his right boot grazing the chalk.

It left Josh Morris to grab the opening try two minutes later after some neat lead-up work from Tedesco, with Cleary nailing the conversion for an 8-0 lead.

The Maroons were denied the hit back when Dylan Napa fumbled a loose ball in the Blues' in-goal after a Cherry-Evans grubber deflected off the upright pad.

It saw them trail by eight at the break but it was all one-way traffic in the second stanza.

Oates produced an acrobatic almost identical to his first, this time avoiding the chalk to score in the corner in the 52^nd minute. Ponga provided the pass and the sideline conversion to make it a two-point game.

Latrell Mitchell, who looked off for most of the night, was dispatched to sin-bin five minutes later after taking out Matt Gillett in pursuit of a kick from Cherry-Evans.

Ponga grabbed another two points to level the scores at 8-all with 22 minutes to play and it proved the right call when Gagai grabbed a wayward pass from Jack Wighton and raced 90 metres to cross in the corner nine minutes later.

He had his second four minutes later, crossing in the corner off a bullet pass from Ponga after Tedesco spilled the ball on kick return.

Ponga added the extras again for a 10-point lead with eight minutes left on the clock. Trbojevic gave the Blues a chance late but the Maroons were good enough to repel their final raid and claim victory.